Topical Diclofenac Reduces Joint Synovitis in Hand Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Investigation Using Fluorescent Optical Imaging.

Purpose: Synovitis, the inflammation of joint synovia, is a prominent feature of osteoarthritis (OA) manifested by enhanced synovial vascularity, endothelial leakage, and perivascular oedema. In this pilot study, we assessed the effect of topical diclofenac in hand OA (HOA) using the established semi-quantitative methods Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Ultrasonography (US), and compared them with Fluorescent Optical Imaging (FOI), an emerging imaging modality.

Patients And Methods: Ten patients with symptomatic and diagnosed HOA used topical diclofenac for 14 days, with FOI, MRI, US, and subjective pain assessed at Baseline and after 7 (Day 8), and 14 (Day 15) days of treatment. Changes in synovitis were assessed for all 10 joints of the hand (via sum scores), and separately for the two joints most affected by synovitis. A new, fully quantitative approach for objective synovitis assessment based on the FOI images was also developed and applied.

Results: The semi-quantitative analysis of the sum scores showed a small decrease in synovitis throughout the treatment duration across the different imaging modalities. The effect of the treatment was more prominent on the two most affected joints, with a synovitis reduction vs Baseline of 21.1% and 34.2% on Day 8 and Day 15, respectively, in the FOI. The quantitative FOI pixel analysis further strengthened the evidence for this effect, with observed reduction of 17.8% and 42.4% for Days 8 and 15, respectively. A similar trend was observed for subjective pain perception, with a reduction of 7.2 and 13.3 mm on Days 8 and 15.

Conclusion: This pilot study evidenced the effect of topical diclofenac on reducing synovitis in hand OA in semi- and fully quantitative analyses, with the effect being stronger in the most affected joints. Further, supporting studies are needed to probe the accuracy of the quantitative pixel analysis of FOI images.